


Situations

by Kappy



Series: Situations [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Torchwood
Genre: Dumbledore Bashing, Harry joins the team, M/M, Weasley Bashing, janto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-28
Updated: 2012-09-28
Packaged: 2017-11-15 05:43:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/523792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kappy/pseuds/Kappy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Hermione move to Cardiff after being rejected once again by the wizarding world. What would happen if Harry ran into Jack at a bar?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Situations

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Here's some history I couldn't fit into the story. Harry didn't start dating Ginny until two years after the war because he was still grieving and couldn't move on. So he was 19 when they started dating again, making him almost 21 now as it is early July. Teddy is with Andy for now. And sorry for bashing the Weasleys, but I had to give a reason for Harry's move.

_How do I get myself into these situations?_ Harry thought as the platform was lowered into the Hub.

**4 hours earlier**

Harry was sitting at the bar, drinking his third beer, absently playing with a picture he had pulled from his wallet. It was of him and Ginny on their first anniversary two months ago. She looked so happy, but then again, so had he. And he hadn't been happy for quite some time. He had only stayed with her because it was what was expected of him, until he finally had found a reason to leave her, one he had thought people would accept as reasonable. But apparently not. Not even cheating on him was reason enough to leave her in the public's eye. How can they expect him to stay with someone he didn't love, _and_ who cheats on him? Even the Weasleys had turned on him. They all thought he should forgive her for her … affair. They expected him to go on with life, as if nothing had happened. Well, they could all go fuck themselves.

 _At least I still have Mione_. Harry sighed. After he had told the Weasleys that he was leaving Ginny, Hermione was the only one to back him up. It might have been because she wasn't raised with the image of the perfect Boy Who Lived, so she didn't have a standard in the back of her mind that he had to live up to. Unfortunately, Ron didn't seem to like his girlfriend taking Harry's side and had dumped her.

After that, neither of them could stand to stay in the wizarding world. Even after the war, people still couldn't let go their old ways. It didn't help that Harry had recently accepted he preferred men to women. He had tried to deny it, tried to push the feelings deep down. The Dursley's had spent years telling him how wrong homosexuality was, how unnatural _. It's no wonder I ended up gay. If it's unnatural, it'll happen to me._

Hermione had told him that homosexuality wasn't widely accepted in the wizarding world because male couples couldn't have biological children that would continue on their bloodlines. It was just another reason to go back to the muggle world. He knew that while some people held the Dursley's belief, the common thought was that love is _love (I know this isn't true in the real world, but roll with it)_. Plus, it was nice to be able to call someone without having to be near a fireplace.

He and Hermione had decided to leave London and go somewhere far away. They wanted be in a fairly large city, somewhere they wouldn't be spotted. But, also somewhere smaller than London. So they decided on Cardiff. They got a small flat near the Millennium Centre. Hermione loved going to the shows there, as well as the shops around it. Their flat was pretty standard, it had two bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and a living room. Neither of them had a car so they didn't use the garage. They didn't even have jobs; they didn't need them when Harry could take care of them for several lifetimes and not even make a dent in his fortune. But Hermione was getting restless, so she decided to go to Cardiff University. She wanted to at least try to further her muggle education so she could support herself later on.

They had been at their new flat for just over a month. Hermione would be starting classes soon, so Harry wouldn't see much of her. He knew that she would spend most of her time in the university library. He would be all alone, even though he knew Hermione would be there for him if he needed her.

Harry sighed, he'd probably been at the bar for an hour, and so far no one had approached him. He was pretty sure there was a dark cloud hanging over his head. He wouldn't be surprised if someone from the wizarding world had jinxed him for turning his back on them, even if they had done it first and several times before.

"You look like you could use something stronger than a beer."

Harry looked up, startled. There was a man, about thirty, standing next to the bar. The man waved to the bartender to order a drink then sat down next to the wizard. Harry just stared at him, the alcohol fogging his brain slightly.

"Excuse me?"

The handsome man looked Harry up and down, causing Harry to blush. This man obviously wasn't a wizard, if he was he probably wouldn't have actually come up to talk to the Boy Who Lived. But Harry could tell he had a reason, and he was pretty sure that reason wasn't entirely innocent.

"I said you could probably use something stronger than a beer. I know just the thing." The man was openly leering at Harry. The younger man was pretty sure the 'thing' wasn't alcohol. Harry wasn't sure how to deal with this. This was the first time any man had ever hit on him. It was different than when girls hit on him, girls were flirty and… well female. How should he reply? He wasn't interested in a relationship anytime soon, though he doubted the man wanted an actual relationship.

"Ah, no, thank you." Harry declined as politely as he could. He really was flattered, but he knew he would regret it if he went home with the man. The man looked a little surprised, probably not used to being turned down, but he didn't get up and go look for another body for the night. He just turned to his beer for a few minutes before he looked at Harry again.

"Can I ask what has such a cute guy like yourself looking so down?" As he talked more, Harry could make out an American accent.

The wizard debated on whether to talk to this handsome stranger. He couldn't be a wizard, and Harry doubted he would ever see him again. And it's not like he needed to spill _all_ the details, right?

"My girlfriend cheated on me with an old friend, then turned my family against me. Told them it was my fault and they believed her." Well, that was pretty close to the true version. The man frowned and looked at Harry again.

"Well then, she certainly has lost her mind. What could cause a sane person to cheat on _you_?" Harry's blush came back full force at of the compliment, and because it was a compliment that wasn't about him being the Boy Who Lived. This man genuinely thought the rogue wizard was attractive and probably wanted to sleep with him, if the looks were any indication.

"I wouldn't ask her to marry me, which meant she couldn't get access to my money." That had been a fun thing to learn, _not_. Ginny had started yelling at him after he caught her in bed with her ex Dean Thomas. How it was his fault, that if he would just ask her to marry him and give her money she wouldn't need to look elsewhere for some fun. And she made it very obvious that she was only interested in his money when she demanded that he compensate her for her time spent trying to get him to marry her. Did she really think that he would give her money? Didn't she realize that that made her sound like a whore, demanding to be paid for her time like that?

"That's…that's pretty messed up. Why were you with her in the first place?" Harry wasn't sure why this man wanted his life story, but if he was going to ask questions the wizard figured he had the right to ask some of his own.

"Why do you, a random stranger, want to know?" The man shrugged, making the old style coat he was wearing stretch across his broad shoulders. Why was the man even wearing a coat like that indoors?

"I like making conversation with strangers. Especially handsome strangers." Harry blushed again, he was starting to think the man was just a permanent flirt. "So, gonna tell me about your ex? I'm a great listener." The man put his chin in his hand on the counter, ready to listen _. Well, it might be nice to tell someone who hasn't known me for 10 years and isn't related to Ginny._

"I've known Ginny since I was 12 and she was 11. I was practically adopted by her family and was best friends with her older brother. We started dating when I was 16 for about a year before… Well, we-- I broke it off. You know those terrorist attacks in London a few years ago? That was really heating up and I knew some people who were in the middle of it. Made me a bit of a target. Then after almost all my family died and the terrorist was dead, she just assumed we'd get back together. I guess it was just easier then fending her off. I don't think I even loved her and would never have asked her to marry me, really. But her entire family was already under the impression that we were perfect together and you don't say no to Ginny's mother. Then, I found her in bed with her ex a month after our one year anniversary. She went crying to her family and said it was my fault. So the only family I have left in the world turned on me." Harry finished, sinking a little lower into self-pity. He figured he deserved some time to wallow, even if he had never loved her. TheWeasleys had been the constant in his life for so long and now they were gone because of a selfish little girl.

"That's pretty messed up. And she did all that for some money? Man, that's rough. You sure I can't help cheer you up?" The man was grinning, and Harry still couldn't believe he was flirting with him.

"No, thank you. You can, however, tell me your story since I just told you mine. Or a name, it would be nice to know who I'm talking to." Harry replied, holding his own a little bit better against the flirting. The man grinned again, noticing Harry wasn't quite as timid as before. Maybe those three beers were finally taking affect?

"The name's Captain Jack Harkness. Can I know your name?"

"Harry, Harry Black." he left the General bit off his name, it really was only a title he'd been given during the war and he figured it'd hurt Jack's ego. After all, it would be embarrassing to find out a man ten years younger than him had a rank seven steps higher than his own.

"Well, Harry Black, I suppose I can tell you a little about me. I work for a boring office with boring people. Pretty much a boring life. But, you don't look boring, so I thought I'd come and spice up my life. And I was right, you certainly are interesting Harry."

Which was the understatement of the century, Harry thought. He had hundreds of books written about him, there _had_ to be something interesting to put in them.

"Please, I gave you my sob story. I want more than that." Harry replied, eyebrows raised. It may have been the alcohol, but he'd told Captain Jack a whole lot more than he would tell anyone else he knew.

"Fine. Hmm… Oh! My dog died last year. I was very sad." The wizard looked at the man incredulously.

"Really? That's the best you can come up with? I just told you I was a target in a war, my girlfriend cheated on me, and my family is dead. And all you can do is 'my dog died'?"

"Well, everything else is classified." Jack said with a wink. Harry wasn't sure if he was serious or just flirting again. Of course, Jack seemed mysterious enough to work for some government agency. But then again, Harry used to work for a secret government and he didn't exactly look the type.

"Fine, have it your way." Harry looked away and pretended to pout, the pout usually worked on Hermione.

Harry heard Jack sigh and say, "My history really is complicated, and besides, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." _Wow, that sounds like something I should be saying._ But Harry could see that Jack wasn't going to say anymore on the subject, so he changed it.

"So why are you here tonight?" That seemed like a pretty good topic, it could lead anywhere.

"I…I had a fight with my boyfriend."

"And you're here hitting on me? I feel sorry for your boyfriend." The wizard sighed, he had liked Jack too. But if he was here hitting on people after a fight, maybe he was a bit like Ginny. Was he just a really bad judge of character? He'd been wrong about all the Weasleys, so it was possible.

"I may flirt, but I never would have gone home with you. He knows I flirt with everyone."

"So you would have led me on? What if I had accepted and then you had to turn me down after you made the offer?" That sealed it; he was a bad judge of character. His first impression was that Jack was a flirt but a good guy. Now it looked like Jack led people on and hurt his boyfriend by doing it. He had misjudged Severus, Dumbledore, and Draco. Dumbledore turned out to be just as bad as Voldemort but in disguise. Severus had really been a good guy who had had to play a bad guy to protect him. And Draco had just been a lost little boy who followed his father's orders. Now he was friends with Sev and Draco because he knew the real them.

Now Jack looked a little ashamed. _Which he should be. Maybe I should just stay inside and not meet new people. I just attract the wrong ones._

"I don't actually make offers. I just flirt, but I would never follow up. Yan knows that. And the people I choose to flirt with usually know I won't follow up. They're the same way." Jack tried to explain. Jack didn't like to think of himself as a bad guy, but Harry's argument was pretty valid.

"Do I look like the type to go around flirting with random people Jack? When you came over you said I looked down. Why would you think I was in the mood for flirting?"

Jack stood up, it was good that there was no one else in the pub because they had started to get loud. Even the bartender had gone into the back a few minutes ago.

"I was trying to cheer you up! I wouldn't have made an offer to sleep with you after you weren't depressed. And I didn't come in here to fight. I wanted to cheer up a bloke who looked sad. That's it. I'm sorry if you took offense. Yan knows I would never sleep with someone else, so it isn't a problem. I'm sorry, ok?" Jack was breathing hard, trying to not get into a fight. He genuinely liked Harry, he seemed fun, barring the sad history. He didn't want add to the young man’s already difficult sounding life.

"Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't get worked up. 'Mione always said I get too worked up over things. Sorry… I know I can get a little…" The young man trailed off. She really did tell him he got too worked up over little things and that he needed to relax now that there wasn't a war to fight.

"It's fine, I know my bad habit can get a little out of hand, but really. I would never cheat on Yan."

An awkward silence settled over them, but Harry still felt a little sorry about the fight _.'Mione's going to kill me when she finds out I almost got in a fight with a random stranger._

"So, I guess I failed at cheering you up, huh? Starting a fight, not the best way to make a first impression…"

Harry snorted, "Trust me, I've had other people make way worse first impressions. And, unfortunately, I call two of them my best friends." Jack laughed and shook his head. "You really are strange Harry."

Harry was about to reply when, what he had assumed was a watch, started beeping loudly on Jack's wrist, making Jack freak out and start flailing before he started to mess with it. After a minute the beeping stopped and Jack downed his beer.

"Gotta go Harry, sorry. Maybe I'll see you around!" Jack waved as he jogged for the door and left.

Harry sighed, what a weird day.

**3 hours later**

Harry decided to walk around after his almost fight with Jack. That, and 'Mione wouldn't be happy if he came home tipsy either. So he had stopped and gotten some real food and plenty of water, sobering him, when he realized he was lost. He hadn't gone out much in the last month so he wasn't familiar with his surroundings yet. And when he pulled out his phone, he saw it was out of power.

 _Just my luck, lost with no way to contact 'Mione._ He looked around for a payphone or cab, but could see none. Harry was trying to decide what to do when he heard a scream. His 'Hero complex' called for immediate action and his body started moving. He ran towards an alley about seventy-five feet in front of him where the scream had come from. He had not expected to see Jack pointing a gun at what looked like… Harry didn't know what. It was yellowish, with a large forehead and snarling teeth.

 _Definitely not human, but I don't recognize it as any magical creature_. The creature noticed him before Jack did. It turned its head toward him and snarled, causing Jack to look at him quickly. Jack's eyes widened and he moved to stand between Harry and the creature. It was backed up against the alley, making it have no way of escape.

"Mind telling me what you're doing here Harry?"

"I, I heard a scream." Harry shook his head, clearing his momentary shock. He had seen weirder things before, so he quickly took in his surroundings and saw a woman unconscious behind the creature. She had blood dripping from her hair line. She must have been the one to scream.

"Well, as you can see, I'm handling this. So you can go." Jack said. Harry looked at Jack as he turned his attention back to the creature who was still snarling at them. "Holding a gun to it is taking care of it? I don't think you know _what taking care of it is_." Just because you had the enemy in your sights did _not_ mean you had won the fight.

The creature seemed to grow tired of hearing them talk and turned on the woman. The wizard heard Jack curse and move forward. There was no way for Jack to get between it and the lady fast enough to save her so Harry reacted on instinct.

" _Stupefy_!" The light shot past Jack and hit the creature, knocking it to the ground. Jack stared at it for a second before running to the woman.

"Gwen? Come on, wake up…" Jack tried to shake her awake, but when it was apparent she wasn't going to wake, he picked her up. "Rhys' going to kill me." Then he turned his attention back to Harry, who had already put his wand back up his sleeve.

"You're coming with me. I'll have to call Ianto to come pick him up." The immortal nodded toward the creature. "How long will he be unconscious?"

"A few hours… probably. I've never seen one of those before so I don't know how it will react." Harry shifted his weight. Had he just shown magic to a muggle? A muggle that was hunting some unknown creature? What if Jack was the bad guy? Although Harry didn't think so, he had to be sure.

"What was that?" Jack gave him a look.

"You really don't know what that is? I thought it would have been obvious with what's been going on around here recently." Jack walked past him, still carrying the woman. Jack walked to the street, toward a black SUV Harry hadn't noticed before.

"Obviously I don't or I wouldn't have asked." Jack looked undecided for a moment, before gesturing to the back car door. Harry reached past him to open it.

"That was a Weevil. It's an alien." He put the woman, Gwen, on the seat and shut the door. He pulled a phone out of the pocket of the military coat and hit the speed dial.

"Yeah… I need you to pick him up… Yes I know… I ran into a complication (insert look at Harry here)… Yeah he's unconscious…Alright… He should be out for a few hours… And tell Owen to be ready, Gwen got hurt… She'll be in the car… Kay, see you after you get back." He hung up the phone and put it away. Walking to the other side of the car he opened the driver's door.

"Get in, you're coming with." Harry was still blinking at where Jack had been and hadn't even heard the conversation. _Aliens. Aliens? ALIENS? He wants me to think that thing is an alien?_ This thought was the only thing going through his brain while Jack talked to Ianto. He didn't even realize he had followed Jack's command to get in the car, not snapping out of it until he heard the engine start.

"What do you mean _alien_? And where are we going?" His brain was still a little on the slow side, maybe some of the alcohol was still in his system.

"Yes, alien. Don't you watch the news? There are aliens turning up all the time now. Daleks, Cybermen, Titanic flying over the Queens estate? Any of this ring a bell?" Jack looked at Harry, how could someone _not_ know about all the aliens?

"I… didn't get out much until about a month ago when I moved here."

"Did you live under a rock with no TV? I'm pretty sure every station on the planet showed the alien coverage."

"I guess I technically did. It was a castle though and there was no TV. When I wasn't there I still didn’t have any access to a TV. I've been pretty out of the loop for the last ten years _." I bet 'Mione knows all about this. But how come she's never mentioned any aliens? Probably didn't want to freak out the magicals, they can't even handle simple science. But if there's a secret magical world out there, I guess there can be aliens._

"How does someone live without any TV for ten years? Or in a castle? That's awesome though, so it's okay. Now that we've covered the basics, wanna tell me what you did to him?" Jack raised an eyebrow at him, looking back at Gwen when she made a noise.

_Crap, why did I have to help? I couldn't just walk away. What do I tell him? Magic's out. He would probably believe me though, since we just saw an alien. Although… It's not like the MoM can do anything to me. I may be 'in the dog house' right now, but I'm still their savior. And it's not like they really could capture me even if they tried. And they don't even know where I am, thank god for those wards I put up to hide my magical signature or they would already be here. So, what the hell?_

"Magic."

"Magic?" He asked, his tone telling Harry what he really was asking was 'are you crazy?'

"Magic. You can expect me to believe in aliens, but you can't believe in magic?"

"Sure, if I saw some proof. I just showed you an alien back there." Harry rolled his eyes, what did Jack expect him to do, pull a rabbit out of a hat? Harry slid his wand out of his sleeve and held it up.

"Here, magic wand."

"That's a piece of wood. Why do you have a piece of wood up your sleeve? How is that going to prove to me magic is real?"

" _Lumos_." Harry whispered and the tip of the wand lit up. Jack looked impressed for a moment, before saying "That could just be a piece of alien tech. Maybe something from the Carrionite's. That just proves you can work an alien artifact." Harry let out a sigh. The reasoning was logical, even if he didn't know what a Carrionite was.

"It could be, if I didn't know the man who made it, and thousands like it. I know magic, and you know aliens. You're taking this better than I would have guessed too."

"Well, aliens, magic. The universe is a crazy place I guess. Not much can surprise me anymore. I should have figured there would be magic on Earth. And I can freak out later, probably will. How do you even make a magic wand?"

"You combine two magical items. Afterward, you have a conductor for the magic inside you."

"Can anyone use it?" Jack asked, looking back and forth between the wand and the road.

Harry slipped the wand away, "No, only people born with magic can. And technically, me telling you this is illegal, so if you could not spread it around? Yeah, thanks."

"Sure, no problem." By now they had pulled up to Millennium Centre. Jack parked and got out, Harry following him, looking back at the unconscious woman.

"Owen will be out in a minute to get Gwen. Follow me." Jack walked over to a railing and leaned on it. Well, Jack knew about magic now. And he didn't seem to be freaking out, which was good. _Maybe I'll actually have someone to talk to that wasn't in the middle of the war._

"So, now you know about magic, wanna tell me about aliens? Like, why you're chasing them? Fair trade."Harry leaned back on the same rail, looking up at the large water tower. _Why does a water tower need to be that big?_

"Aliens, beings from other planets. They come here through the Rift. The Rift is like a wormhole and one end is right on top of Cardiff. Aliens come through all the time, sometimes humans from other times will as well. And I'm with Torchwood."

Harry processed the information fairly well _. Of course_ he would choose a place to live that was on the end of a wormhole. But Jack was looking at him expectantly when he said Torchwood, so he assumed he was supposed to know what that was.

"I lived under a rock for the last ten years, remember? If it's been in the news for the last couple of years, I probably still don't know it." The wizard explained.

"Torchwood, outside the government, beyond the police. Tracking down alien life on Earth, arming the human race against the future. The twenty-first century is when everything changes and you've got to be ready." Jack stood up straight, tall and handsome. The wind made his coat lift, giving the moment a particularly dramatic feel.

"…You practice that? It sounds like you practiced that." The younger man snickered then full out laughed at of Jack's affronted look.

"I did not practice that! It's just part of my charm!" Jack squawked. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I was going to ask if you wanted to join Torchwood, 'cause you have magic and that would be useful. But maybe I _won't_." Jack said petulantly.

"What are you, five? And you want me to join Torchwood just because I saved you once?"

"You didn't save me, I would have been _fine_." Harry raised a brow. "But yes. You seem like you can handle yourself. And you wouldn't need me to look after you since you have magic. Plus, more eye candy for me."

Harry huffed to cover his blush and turned away from Jack.

"So, how about it? Wanna catch aliens?"

Harry thought about it. It wasn't like he had a job and he had no way to spend his time now that Hermione was going to school. And he would be around people who were used to weird things happening so his magic probably wouldn't cause too much of a fuss. And Jack had said Torchwood didn't answer to the government so the wizard thought that that probably applied to the MoM too. So there really was no reason he _should_ say no. But did he want to say yes? He liked Jack, and if Jack had the power to hire him on the spot he was probably in charge. And it sounded like he would be protecting people from alien threats. Everyone always said he had a saving-people-thing. Hermione had even looked it up, Chronic Hero Syndrome. Harry had rolled his eyes at that. So… why not?

"Sure." Jack smiled.

"Great!" He grabbed the younger man's arm and pulled him in front of the Centre, onto a random stone square.

"What are we waiting for?" Harry asked after a few seconds. But Jack just shushed him.

 _How do I get myself into these situations?_ Harry thought as the platform was lowered into the Hub.


End file.
